Improvement in horse-rakes



' H. ALBRIGHT.

Horse" Rake. Y No. 46,435. Patented: Feb 21. ,1865- UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE. i f

HUBLEY ALBRIGHT, OF LEWISBRG, PENNSYLVANIA..

IMPROVEMENT IN HORSE-RAKES.V

Specification forming part of' Letters Patent N0. 46.435, datedFebrunry 21, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUBLEY ALBRIGHT, of

\ Lewisburg, in the county of Union and State -Similar letters of reference indicate corre! sponding parts in the several figures.

The object of the inventionis to arrange the teeth in such a manner that they will be capable of being easily raised in order to discharge their load, and also readily adjusted in a Working position and retained therein. This part of the invention consists in a novel way of applying the teeth to the machine, and in certain parts for operating the same, as hereinafter fully set forth.

To enable those skilled in the art" to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents an axle, havingl a wheel, B, placed loosely on each end of it, and C are thills attached to the axle.

vD is adrivers seat, secured to bars ax on the axle A, and braced by a rod, a, from a footpiece, b, on the thills.

E represents three bent rods of V form,A

which are secured by pivots c to the back part of the aXle A, said pivots being at the back of the aXle A, as shown in Fig. 2.

To the back ends of the rods E there is attached a bar, F, which is parallel with the axle A, and the front ends of said rods eX- ltend up above the front of the aXle A, and

are secured to a rod G. On thisrod G there are placed loosely a series of parallel bars,H, which have mortises d made in them near their back ends, and in these mortises the rake-teeth I are secured by pivots e. These mortises d are of sufficient length to admit of the raketeeth I working in them on the pivots e, and

each tooth I has a rod, G, attached to it, on

which spiral springs J are placed. These springs J have their lower ends resting or bearing upon plates or disks h, placed loosely on the rods, the upper ends of the springs being attached to plates t', secured on the up# per ends of the rods. The rods G pass through the barsH, andthe plates or disks. hvbear upon the upper surfaces of said bars, as shown clearly in Fig. 2.

Around the spiral springs J there are placed tubular india-rubber springs K. These springs K are fitted between the plates or disks h and the plates i, and the'spiral springs J keep the rubber springs K free from the rods G', and prevent the former from being injured by abrasion under the action of the rods. (See Fig. 3.) These springs J Khave atendency to keep tle rake-teeth I in a proper. working position, the rods G being twisted to form a loop, j, on each one of them, the l springs keeping the loops in contact with the under sides of the Vbars H, unless the raketeeth are forced back by obstructions as the machine is drawn along.

yL is a bar which rests upon the upper surface of the bars II, a'nd has arms K attached L to it at right angles, the front ends of which are fitted loosely on the rod G. This bar L has a projection, M, attached to it at about its center, against which a lever, N,bears when the rake-teeth I are at Work. This lever N is of bent form, is fitted loosely on the rod G, and has' a short arm, Z, at its front end.

O is a spring of curved form, as shown clearly in Fig. 2, and attached to one side of the drivers seat D, directly in front of the lever N. This springhas al shoulder, M, formed 011 it byapeculiarben'd in the spring, and againstv this shoulder the arm l of the lever N bears when the rake-teeth I are in a downward or working position, and the lever N thereby made to press against the projection M on bar L, which keeps the rake in a proper working position.

The operation is as follows: As the machine is drawn along, the teeth I gather or rake up the hay, and. in case a tooth meets with any obstruction the springs previously described admit of the `tooth yielding 'or giving in a backward direction 'so that it may pass over the obstructions, the springs drawing back the tooth to its original position as soon'as the obstruction lhas been passed over. Each tooth,

also,'it will be seen, is allowed to rise and fall independently of its fellows to conform to the inequalities of the ground. In order tofdischarge the load, the driver, from his seat D,

throws forward the lever N, the front end of which is provided with a short arm, n, which bears against the central bent "rod, AAE, and the bar F raises the bars H, and consequently the teeth I, bars or arins 0, which are attached t0 the axle A, preventing the hay from rising with the teeth. Vhen the load is freed from the teeth I, the latter are'allowed to descend to their original position, the arm Z of the lever passing behind the shoulder m of the spring` o. In shoving forward this lever N, the arm Z frees itself from the shoulder m of the spring o.

In consequence of the arrangement 4of the bent rods E and bars H, as shown, the resistance offered to the teeth I by thehay and the passage of the former Over the ground are in line or about in line with the line of draft, the latter being from the pivots c,- hence it will beseen that the rake-teeth have a tendency to remain in a proper working position; but at any ti lne, il' a downward pressure on the teethis required, the driver can press back:

ward the lever N. The rake-teeth"v also, in consequence of this arrangement, are rendered capable of being raised with the greatest fa cility, as the bars H may be nearly balanced on the pivots c. v

Having thus described :my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The arrangement of the teeth-bars H and bent rod E, the latter being attached to the axle A, as shown, and in such a. relative position with the rake-teeth I to operate as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The lever N, in combination with the bars H F L and the spring o, all arranged as and for the purpose specified.

HUBLEY ALBRIGHT.

Vit nesses t C. H. HAssnNPLUG, l

E. H.V WEIKEL. 

